So Dirty....You'll Beg For A Shower

It is time we take a break from baseball to bring this to everyone's attention.

That guy is creepy enough for me to believe it is real.* * *

First off, let me apologize for that. Second, Keith Law sheds some light onto a situation that has been perplexing us Met fans for a bit.

Brandon (RVC,NY): Should I be worried as a Met fan that the Mets won't have the ammunition to get top starter this offseason?

SportsNation Keith Law: (1:03 PM ET ) Ridiculous. I've seen that mentioned in some NY papers, and it's absurd. Carlos Gomez is very highly-rated within the game. Fernando Martinez (who seems to be their one untouchable) is still one of the top 10-12 prospects in the game. Pelfrey hasn't even turned 24 yet, and he's still mid-90s with plus sink. I have no idea why it's fashionable to bash the Mets' young players, but they have plenty of assets to go get another starter. Whether they choose to part with them or not is the question.

I figured we were not crazy here. While I know the Mets cannot stack up against the Dodgers, Angels, and BoSox overall in terms of prospects or the Yankees pitching prospects, the Mets are not exactly barren. That being said, they are top heavy and might not be best advised to overpay and liquidate for an ace when there are other workable options that are arguably as optimal when considering the bigger picture. Of course if they can make a fair deal, make it happen.

I'm going to be lazy today and leave it to ube. From the comments last night:

You know, a lot of little things went wrong last year (besides the epic collapse). Burgos blowing his arm was bigger than we all thought. Omar got him to be this year's Duaner (at the time of the trade, was Bannister for Burgos really any different than Seo for Sanchez?) With Burgos in the mix, and Mota being halfway effective, there is no room for Bell, Owens, or Lindstrom. They were all getting old, so Omar spun Owens and Lindstrom off for two younger, lefty starters, and traded Bell for OF depth in case he traded Milledge for an arm.

So what happens? Burgos blows out his arm, Mota wasn't within nuclear distance of halfway decent, Duaner and Padilla both get re-injured, we have 6 major injuries in the OF (Alou, Green, Milledge, Johnson, Gomez, and FMart), we spend the whole year looking for one more bullpen arm, and WE STILL MISSED THE PLAYOFFS BY ONE GAME and the best record in the NL by two.

Do we all remember where this franchise was before Omar? How am I reading things about this being a make-or-break season for him? Are you kidding me????? Hasn't he brought us, oh, I don't know, Beltran, Pedro, Maine, Perez, El Duque, Alou, Delgado, Duaner and Wagner??? Bitch all you want, but every single one of those players was WAY better than the guy in their role previously. So Omar took a couple minor gambles and they didn't work out last year. Seriously, though, who was the best player we gave up? Bannister? Really? Sure, he had a good year and he's serviceable. Would we feel comfortable counting on him to be anything better than a #4 starter next year?

And it's not like we are a second division team right now. Today - with no moves - I'd still take us to win the NL East. We have 5 core players who we can expect to only keep getting better - Wright, Reyes, Maine, Perez, and Milledge. We are in good shape; maybe not to win the WS this year (although maybe), but certainly going forward.

While I'd still love to see the Mets pick off Harden from the A's for his upside (and I think you can get him somewhat cheaply) and add Livan or Silva for innings, I've come around to accepting we will lose some prospects this year because everyone is running around like their hair is on fire.

So here's what I say. The three young guys who I'd say are tradeable are:
- Gomez: well thought of around the league, and since we need Milledge this year and FMart is a superstar, don't see room for him in the future.
- Mulvey: coming off a great year that is likely as high as his value will get.
- Heilman: again, coming off a great year likely as high as his value will get.
- Nick Evans: see Heilman & Mulvey

So put Gomez, Mulvey, Heilman and Evans on the table for Haren + something or Bedard + Ramon Hernandez (plus maybe take a bad contract like Baez off the O's hands). First team to bite make the deal. Sign Livan, move El Duque to the bullpen. Sign Dotel. Keep the rest of the prospects so they can get healthy / rebuild their value.

Does a rotation of Pedro, Bedard, Maine, Perez, Livan not give us the best rotation in the NL? Is a pen of Wagner, Dotel, El Duque, Feliciano, Smith and junk not one of the better pens? Wouldn't we still have Pelfrey, Humber, FMart, Guerra, Parnell, Niese, and Carp as upper-level prospect depth? Is it just me, or is the sky not falling here???

I have said the key word for this off-season should be prudent. The Mets should not feel forced to do anything rash, but if they can make a good move, make it happen. The Mets do not have as big of a need as people think and it cannot be forgotten how much the injury bug has plagued them. In '06, Pedro and The Duque went down for the playoffs and they still made it all the way to game seven. Then Pedro was out for all of '07 for the most part, The Duque went down again during the stretch run, and Alou missed too much time.

This season, the Mets need to not rely on The Duque as a starter this season and need to replace him in the rotation. Pedro, Bedard/Haren, Maine, Perez, and Livan/Silva does give us best rotation in the NL and even Pedro, Maine, Perez, Livan/Silva, and Pelfrey/Humber works for me. The Mets should also stash Freddy Garcia in their back pocked for the second half of '07 which gives you either Pelfrey or Humber, Garcia laster in the season, The Duque can shift in from the bullpen, and Mulvey later in the season as a guys who you can insert into the rotation and that for me is plenty of depth. If you do manage to pull off a deal for a Haren or Bedard, I would prefer rolling with Pelfrey or Humber in the fifth slot rather than getting Livan or Silva, but it is hard to argue picking one of them up.

Basically, the Mets have options and are not in as bad of a place as people think. I think the Mets are in a good position to put together a team capable of doing very good things. A full year of Milledge and a healthy Chavez to spell Alou and serve as a capable replacement should he go down will go a long way for this team and I think this team has depth where it needs it.

ESPN says the Red Sox and Twins are talking Santana.

The Red Sox and Twins are discussing the framework of a Johan Santana deal that would have Boston sending four players to Minnesota in return for the two-time Cy Young Award winner, including center fielder Coco Crisp, pitcher Jon Lester and minor-league shortstop Jed Lowrie, the trio that would anchor the deal.

Red Sox pitcher Michael Bowden has been discussed as a possible fourth player, sources say, but the identity of the fourth player is in flux.

Wow. If that is the deal on the table, the Red Sox should be pulling the trigger.